Maychiri's Thoughts: Glitter

Catrice Pastel Please Nail Polish [020 - Cloud Nine] Review

June 09, 2025

The only review for today but I promise this is going to be interesting! This is the Catrice Pastel Please Nail Polish, in the shade 020/Cloud Nine!

Okay, who thought that I would buy a cornflower blue nail polish? Raise hands... yeah, me neither. Anyways, this nail polish was released as part of the Spring/Summer 2024 refresh, but I just never got around to buying it. I wanted it... but there was always something else on my mind so it kind of fell by the wayside. But then, I just say “screw it” and finally bought it. So, the Pastel Please range consisted of, you guessed it, pastel colours. For spring. Yeah, I know, positively shocking – pastels for spring?? No-one ever thought of that! Jokes aside, these colours really are gorgeous. Out of the 4 available, which were baby pink, cornflower blue, pale yellow and seafoamish green, I only really liked one. This cornflower blue, which is absolutely an odd choice for me. I originally wanted the baby pink but come on – I already have so many different light pinks. And they often wash me out. But you know what I don’t have plenty of? Blue nail polishes! I just never really felt that really any shade of blue suits me that much, at least in terms of nail polish. But here I am, with this lovely gentle spring shade! Hopefully, I will be on Cloud Nine by the end of this review – Catrice nail polishes have only become better recently so... fingers crossed! Now, let’s see what this interesting blue nail polish is like!

Packaging: ah, back to the old type of bottle that the ICONAILS had! This feels like home! So, this is a rectangular glass bottle that is actually pretty heavy. It’s light on details, having only the Pastel Please logo in the front, though I do love this pastel yellow colour they used, it is very cheerful! Fun fact: the pastel yellow shade has the name in this shade of cornflower blue! And the pink & green shades both have the others’ colour as the Pastel Please text! Very fun detail! And cohesive when the nail polishes are stood side-by-side. Yellow and blue are always a striking colour combo, but the pastel yellow might be a bit too bright for this shade of blue. The information sticker is in the back.

Seeing as this bottle is the same one used in ICONAILS, it features one detail that the newer polishes (e.g., the Gel Affair range) don’t have: a double cap system! What this means is that there is an outer decorative cap and an inner cap that actually closes the bottle. So don’t be worried if you pull and only the larger cap comes off – this is intentional! I was fooled by this as well at first. But now I kinda love this concept! I feel like it keeps the nail polish even more airtight, so it should last much longer. Anyways, both caps are white, with the outer cap being glossy white and the inner one ribbed white. It being ribbed helps immensely with grip. The outer cap can be a bit loose sometimes, but the inner cap makes up for this – and then some. Sometimes, it closes so tightly that I struggle to open it! I love the overall design; it looks modern and chic and the white of the cap is the perfect colour to use with this cornflower blue! It’s just such a shame they retired this design, this was it!

Source: www.catrice.eu

Ingredients: nothing nourishing; 3-free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). The scent is like any other nail polish, though it might be a tad more vinegary. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.

Colour: oh am I glad I picked this colour specifically! I originally wanted the light pink, but that one would have for sure washed me out. This one, though? This one looks so vibrant on my pale skin! I am still not a 100% used to seeing blue on my nails, but this isn’t pure blue. This is a light blue with a good amount of purple pigments in it that soften it. It is still a shade of blue (or more accurately, azure), though, like, it is visibly blue. I’d say that it’s a bit too vibrant to be called pastel, but it is definitely a very soft, muted shade of blue, perfect for spring. This colour is literally cornflower blue, just, more muted and pastel. And I sure do love cornflower blue! It’s just such a pretty, not too intense kind of blue. It is also pretty similar to Jordy blue. It may be close to that than to cornflower blue, now that I think about it.

But in any case, this is a vibrant – yet pastel, at the same time – shade of a calming light blue. It looks amazing on pale skin! I think this colour specifically looks best on pale skin such as mine, here, it really pops! This is not a subtle colour by any means, it is just soothing! So gorgeous! And everyone in my family commented on how pretty they think this nail polish is, and they rarely comment on that. Yeah, I love it! It’s so springy! And so gentle! Although it does wash me out a tiny bit, I simply don’t think that any kind of light blue is a good choice for my colour season, which to me, seems to be autumn? So these kinds of soft, pastel blues always take time to get used to how they look on me.

Ah, whatever, I will wear whatever colours I like – and I quite like this one! No, love! At first, I thought this would be a plain pastel blue nail polish, but it is actually shimmery – and quite shimmery at that! The shimmer is mostly white, with some golden shimmer sprinkled in for variety. I love this white shimmer, I feel like this is what makes this nail polish so pastel as it softens the blue ever so much so that it is gentle. Plus, if you look closely, it looks like tiny fairy dust inside the polish! Just beautiful! Wow!

Brush: typically for Catrice, this is one freaking amazing brush! This is a flat brush with curved ends, but it is really bendy and looks and feels very high quality. There are no stray hairs or any other signs of bad quality. Although I would prefer if it were just a smidge larger, as it is slightly on the smaller side as-is. Still, it is phenomenally precise, allowing you to paint your nails without making a huge mess on the sides. I love how evenly it spreads the polish; I usually need like 3 swipes and that’s it! I am used to this level of awesomeness with Catrice, but I always feel happy when a new nail polish continues this age-old trend. Just a note: this brush picks up a huge amount of nail polish, way more than you’d ever need for one nail so don’t forget to tap off the excess!

Otherwise, things might get messy. Such a great brush! I love it! And I am so happy this stayed, throughout all the years of ICONAILS and now, after them.

Oh, this formula is kinda thick! But it doesn’t feel goopy at all, it just feels smooth and kinda silky. It is not at all runny, either, so it is very easy to use. At some points, it even feels creamy! Wow, this is a big difference compared to how, say, ICONAILS felt. Whereas the older formulas tended to be gelly to varying degrees, it seems that the newer formulas have shifted to being more creamy than gelly. I say this because the new Gel Affair range also has a creamier formula than before, and quite a lot of the newer nail polishes aside from the Gel Affair range also had thick, creamy, silky formulas. I like this! The formula feels more expensive and luxurious this way. And it is so easy to use and ends up even with zero effort! I just wasn’t expecting it to be like this, that’s all.

One coat is not good. It is semi-opaque and looks messy. Why? Because it is unevenly applied – and trust me, I did my best to apply it evenly, but the formula just doesn’t apply too evenly with one coat. One coat gives you way more shimmer than colour, but since it is so messy, I really wouldn’t leave it like this. I know I won’t! So, with two coats, the situation improves massively! Now it looks perfect! Completely opaque and rich and 100% even! Oh yeah, this is how it should be worn. Don’t apply more than 2 coats though, or it may become too goopy. It will also be way too thick; even with two coats, it is starting to feel a bit too thick on a few nails. The colour is vibrant now and the shimmer is not overly too sparkly like before.

The shimmer is tiny but plentiful, giving a kinda grainy appearance to the nail polish. The shimmer is so finely milled that it looks like white dust that is mixed in with the cornflower blue. The texture is quite unique! I only noticed this relatively recently, while looking at product photos of this nail polish range: this nail polish is both shimmery and kinda 3D rough! However, on the nails, it is not 3D. Well, kinda? It has a bit of a bumpy, 3D surface, but it is mostly shimmer. I love this rough finish, it looks so unique and fits so well with this cornflower blue! And although it a bit bumpy, it doesn’t feel rough and coarse to touch. In fact, it is remarkably smooth! I should also mention that it is fairly glossy as well, which only enhances the appearance of the tiny shimmer inside! Huh. This is a really unique nail polish so far!

Oh my god! The longevity is superb! I really did not expect this, I thought that it would start to chip soon after painting my nails, but it only had a few tiny chips before a hair wash. They were so tiny that I barely even noticed them, and even when I opened food or makeup with my nails, it still stayed chip-free! How amazing! That said, one of those chips is my own fault because I ate strawberry yogurt and... well, long story short, don’t try to pry those little black seeds out of your molars with your nails. That’s what toothbrushes are for. Now I know. Besides that, it really is pretty much life-proof! It also tolerates water so well! But one thing it doesn’t tolerate is hair washing.

I noticed pieces falling off my nails while I was washing my hair, and, sure enough, the nail polish was in a bad state afterwards. There was a lot of chipping all over. But hey, if it takes a hair wash to do this, I am happy! As long as it doesn’t randomly chip during the day. And also, it is pretty much immune to getting scratched up! Never at any point did I notice scratches on any of the nails, which is beyond awesome! This helps preserve that beautiful gloss and shimmery finish. But one curious thing that I noticed is that it looks like it has edge fading from day 2... but it doesn’t. Like, there is clearly nail polish on the free edges of my nails but it still has this thin band that kinda looks like there’s no nail polish. Not an issue, just an interesting observation, because this doesn’t lead to chipping on the edges. Very interesting!

Oh phew! I was mentally preparing myself for battle: no way that such a shimmery, bumpy nail polish would come off without a fight. Oh but it does, for the most part. It’s not the easiest nail polish to remove, but it really doesn’t require much effort to fully remove. How incredible! I didn’t have to rub my nails for a long time, which means that they are less dried out and less prone to splitting or breaking. The top layer takes a bit of time to break through, though. And there is no yellowing of the nails post-removal. Awesome, because I had had blue nail polishes stain my nails yellow in the past, but I don’t need to worry about that with this lovely nail polish. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

Overall, well, this nail polish far surpassed all of my expectations! It is excellent, truly! There’s so much that’s good in here, like for example, the brush. Catrice almost always have amazing brushes in their nail polished, and this one is no exception. It is wide and quite flexible, which makes it extremely easy to paint the nails properly. In fact, I was able to paint my nails without having a huge mess on the sides! And it spreads the polish so wonderfully evenly, as well as applying it thickly. So just 2-3 swipes later and nails look professionally painted. That said, the formula is uneven with one coat; that is one of the few negative points of this nail polish. It really does not look good with one coat, making it necessary to apply 2 coats. But with two coats, it looks even and the colour is vibrant and so stunning. This is a cornflower blue – how pastel this really is depends; to me, this isn’t exactly pastel but it is still a gorgeous colour! I did not think I would love it quite this much – I actually fell in love with it when I saw it on my nails the morning after! This type of blue is a soothing type, because it has plenty of purple pigments inside that soften it and make it easier on the eyes. It’s a perfect colour for spring, so gentle yet so vibrant at the same time! And the shimmer inside it? Oh man! It only makes the polish that much more beautiful! It was a wise choice to make the glitter mostly white, this adds to that softness I mentioned earlier. This nail polish has an odd texture; it is not quite just shimmery nor 3D. Like, it is bumpy! That’s the best way to describe it, it is bumpy and shimmery, so it looks like some sort of crushed crystal. So gorgeous! And I didn’t know originally that it was both bumpy and shimmery, so when I saw this on my nails I was left speechless. Completely unique and so, so mesmerising! This colour and that unique texture... wow! The formula is thick, yes, but it is so silky and easy to use. And the longevity is great as well! It survived without chipping in any major way for like 3 days, and even then, it was just a couple of tiny little chips, one of which us totally my fault. The second not-so-good thing is that this nail polish doesn’t like hair washes; it was half chipped off after a hair wash, which isn’t too good. But the fact that it survived until then in such a good state is a miracle! I told you there were only a few negatives! Oh, I do love this nail polish – I have been holding out on buying it but I see now that the wait was so, so worth it. Because this is one phenomenal nail polish, much better than even the old ICONAILS! I am so glad I didn’t pick the pink shade, this one is really perfect! So, with all that said, there is only one thing left to do: I give this nail polish my recommendation, I would be insane not to. Ah, I really am on Cloud Nine!

Rating: 8.5/10

Would buy again? YES

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Brown

Wet n Wild Color Icon 5-Pan Palette [1114071E - Camo-flaunt] Review

August 09, 2023

Now that the eyes are primed with the Wet n Wild Primer, let's apply an eyeshadow! Maybe this lovely eyeshadow palette, the Wet n Wild Color Icon 5-Pan Palette, shade 1114071E/Camo-flaunt?

I had been thinking about buying this palette for a really long time before finally buying it. I like the concept of 5-pan palettes as they are designed to give you a complete makeup look with more versatility than eyeshadow quads. This shade in particular seemed like a great neutral choice with the option of applying the shimmer for a more glamorous look. And since BIPA had all makeup at a 30% discount, that was the perfect time to buy the palette. Let’s see how good it is!

Packaging: it’s really simple, just a white plastic case with a clear lid. The clear lid allows you to judge how the colours would look on your skin. It looks rather sleek and modern because of the white Color Icon stripe and the slim size of the palette. The lid closes very tightly and is pretty well made, not at all loose or squeaky.

Ingredients: jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) seed oil in every shade and no parabens. The scent is very subtle, smelling a tiny bit like plastic or pool floats. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.

This is a brown toned eyeshadow palette, with both cool and warm toned shades included. It’s beautifully coordinated for a smokey eye. You can make a subtle smokey eye with the matte shades or a glamorous one with the glitter. There are 5 shades: a more cool toned matte dark brown, a shimmery silvery cool light brown, a glittery brownish gold, a shimmery copper, and a matte buff warm brown. My favourites are the dark brown matte and the shimmery copper; the copper shade is really beautiful!

Every shade swatched

The pigmentation of every one of these shades is extremely intense! They all look super intense even with just one layer, but amazing with multiple layers! The most pigmented shade is shade 3, the glitter, naturally. Among the shimmer shades, the silvery brown is much more pigmented than the copper one. And the two mattes are equally pigmented.

Wearing Shade 1 + Shade 2 + Shade 4 + Shade 5

In more detail: shade 1 is super pigmented with one layer and looks great on pale skin. Shade 2 is super intense and pigmented and really sparkly and shimmery, especially with a couple of layers, and is perfect for the festive season! Shade 3 is extremely pigmented and just as excessively sparkly and intense with a single layer! Shade 4 is very pigmented and blends beautifully with pale skin, but is still really intense and noticeable and looks great with a single layer, but, of course, it’s so much better when you layer it on! And shade 5 has good pigmentation and blends very nicely into the skin, although it will probably need a few layers to reach its full pigmentation.

Wearing Shade 1 + Shade 2 + Shade 4 + Shade 5

All of the shades are super easy to apply, although the glitter and shimmer shades do have a lot of fall out. The mattes are best applied with a brush, while the rest are better applied with fingers than brushes, especially the glitter. The glitter is far too coarse to be applied precisely with a brush; you’ll get glitter everywhere but where you wanted it. I was a bit uncertain whether I really liked the finished look at first, but the more I use the palette, the more I love the look, and how easy it is to blend it perfectly into a vibrant brown smokey eye!

Wearing Shade 1 + Shade 2 + Shade 5 with Dirty Works Glamour Eyes Liquid Eyeshadow and Liner Eye Pencil

The textures are: matte (shade 1, shade 5), very shimmery (shade 2), glittery (shade 3), and shimmery (shade 4). The mattes are very soft and there is absolutely no fall out or smudging. It’s a very finely milled formula that blends into the skin beautifully! The copper shimmer is so soft and creamy and blends beautifully without any fall out. The silvery shimmer, on the other hand, is more scratchy and coarse but still very easy to use despite that; there is, however, a ton of fall out with this shade. Like, I always have a huge amount of shimmer under my eyes no matter how carefully I am applying it. So, that’s annoying. At least it is easily blendable. The glitter is, as expected, pretty difficult to use compared to the other shades; there is an absolute ton of fall out and it doesn’t really blend easily. So you really have to get it right the first try, because it is really difficult to fix it. Though Wet n Wild’s glitter always feel much more creamy than other brands’ glitter, so there is that.

The mattes and the copper shimmer feel weightless on my lids, they are so, so light! The silvery shimmer can feel a tiny bit scratchy, but it usually feels pretty comfortable. The glitter is a bit uncomfortable to wear, especially when it starts to fall out and starts to feel really scratchy. But that’s standard for glitter pigments, to be honest.

The longevity is excellent, in general, but there is quite a lot of creasing with some shades. The mattes don’t crease a whole lot and don’t fade one bit at all! The copper shimmer is super long-lasting but it does crease; the same holds true for the silvery shimmer. The glitter creases like crazy and tends to slide around the lids throughout the day unless you use glitter glue under it, which isn’t unexpected, but it is really annoying and is the primary reason why I rarely use glitters. Though the more creamy formula of Wet n Wild’s glitters makes it perform slightly better than other glitters. So, the worst performing shade is, what a surprise, the glitter. But all in all I am very pleased with how well these shadows perform throughout the day!

As far as how easy they are to remove, most of them (besides the glitter) are super easy to remove. The mattes take mere seconds to remove and don’t stain the skin, while the copper glitter takes a tiny bit more time to remove. The silvery shimmer is easily removed but leaves a lot of residual shimmer all around the eye area, which is quite annoying. And don’t get me started on the glitter, it is so incredibly annoying to remove as it will either explode all over the face when you swipe over your eyelids or you will have to spend ages carefully removing it. And even then you most likely won’t be able to remove all of it!

The most tolerable way to remove glitter is to actually take small pieces of sellotape and then patiently stick it to the glitter little by little. That way you minimise the chance that you will have residual glitter everywhere. It sounds weird, but trust me, it really does work!

In short, this is a fantastic eyeshadow palette! The colours are perfectly coordinated for a classic brown smokey eye whether with or without the glitter. I really love the shimmers and mattes, they are so intense and beautiful and just look incredible! Shade 2 is especially sparkly and intense and looks amazing during the holidays! The glitter is annoying to use and especially to remove so I tend to skip using it altogether, but it is extremely intense and vibrant and not at all for everyday use! The shadows are mostly very long-lasting, well, besides shades 2 and 3, which crease a lot! I would always advise using an eyeshadow primer, for multiple reasons, not just to prevent creasing. There is not a trace of creasing when I use a primer underneath. If I am not using the glitter, removing the shadows is quick and painless, even though the silvery shimmer does end up getting everywhere around the eyes. It’s only if I use the glitter does it become tedious and annoying, which, to be honest, is par for the course for glitters. All in all, I really love using this palette (minus the glitter), and how natural and neutral the default look is! It looks even better if you apply shades 2 and 4 in reverse, with the silvery shimmer on the eyelids instead of the inner eye and brow bone, and the copper shimmer in the inner eye. It’s even more festive that way! I often reach for this palette when I don’t know what kind of look to do, so I will, naturally, recommend it! It is really, really good!

Rating: 8/10

Would buy again? Definitely YES

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Catrice Pastel Please Nail Polish [020 - Cloud Nine] Review

Avon Crushed Crystals Sunset Beats Nail Enamel [Flamingo] Review

Avon Crushed Crystals Nail Enamel [Pearl] Review

Wet n Wild Color Icon 5-Pan Palette [1114071E - Camo-flaunt] Review

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